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What you’ll build

By the end of this guide, Marcus will be able to send WhatsApp messages on behalf of your company, with:
  • A Meta-approved number (not your personal one)
  • Meta’s 24-hour messaging window respected automatically
  • Reply tracking arriving in the chat
  • A complete audit trail for every message
Estimated time: 45 minutes to 7 days — Meta’s number approval is the bottleneck. The other steps take about 10 minutes.

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Prerequisites

Twilio account

Pay-as-you-go is enough. twilio.com

A new phone number

Preferably NOT a personal or team number. Use a number dedicated to the company.

Company documents

Company registration (CNPJ), legal name, and address. Meta verifies these before approving.

Verified domain (recommended)

Speeds up Meta approval. Not required, but helps avoid rejection.

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Step 1: Create a Twilio account

Go to twilio.com and sign up. The standard process includes email and phone verification — nothing unusual here.
New account vs. sub-account. If you’re already running other things on Twilio (OTP SMS, voice flows), consider creating a dedicated sub-account for ApolloSpace AI. Billing isolation and permissions stay cleaner that way.

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Step 2: Get your WhatsApp number approved

In the Twilio dashboard: Develop → Messaging → Senders → WhatsApp senders → Get started. Twilio walks you through a wizard:
  1. Confirm company details (CNPJ, legal name, address)
  2. Register the number (ideally a new, dedicated number)
  3. Submit for Meta approval
  4. Wait
Meta approval takes 2–7 business days. Don’t start this step the day before a launch. If this is your company’s first WhatsApp Business number, Meta may request additional domain and company verification — that can extend to 14 days in sensitive cases.
Expected result: a Twilio email confirming “Sender approved” and the number showing as active in the Senders → WhatsApp panel.

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Step 3: Create a Messaging Service

Still in Twilio: Develop → Messaging → Services → Create new. Save and copy the Messaging Service SID (format MGxxxx...). You’ll paste it into ApolloSpace AI in Step 5.

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Step 4: Get your Account SID and Auth Token

In the Twilio dashboard, go to Account Dashboard → Account Info:
The Auth Token is equivalent to the master password for your Twilio account. Anyone with the token can send messages (and generate charges) on your behalf. Treat it like a password: never commit it to a public repo, never paste it in chat, never share it in a screenshot.If you suspect it has leaked, rotate it immediately in the Twilio dashboard and update it in ApolloSpace AI.

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Step 5: Connect to ApolloSpace AI

In ApolloSpace AI: Settings → Integrations → WhatsApp → Connect Twilio. Paste the three values: Click Connect. ApolloSpace AI handles the following automatically:
  1. Validates the credentials against the Twilio API
  2. Updates the inbound webhook and status callback on the Messaging Service to point at ApolloSpace AI (you don’t need to do this manually)
  3. Marks the integration as active
Expected result: a Connected badge on the WhatsApp row in Settings → Integrations.

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Step 6: Send a test message

In Settings → Integrations → WhatsApp → Send test message:
  • Enter your own WhatsApp number as the recipient
  • Choose a Meta-approved template (or free-form text if you’ve recently exchanged messages with this number)
  • Click Send
The message arrives on your WhatsApp within seconds. ApolloSpace AI logs the test in your org’s usage history.
No open 24-hour window? Use a template. Since you’ve never messaged with the ApolloSpace AI number before, you’re outside Meta’s 24-hour window. ApolloSpace AI Space shows you the pre-approved templates from your Messaging Service. Pick any one — it’s just to verify the integration works.

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Troubleshooting — common errors

Where to find logs:

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Production tips

Before operating at real scale, it’s worth reviewing these:
Rotate the Twilio Auth Token:
  • Always when someone with access leaves the team
  • Periodically (every 6 months is a reasonable cadence) for hygiene
  • Immediately if there’s any suspicion of a leak
Updating in Twilio and ApolloSpace AI takes about 2 minutes. Marcus will be unavailable during those 2 minutes — schedule this during a low-traffic period.
Meta assigns a Quality Rating to your number (green / yellow / red). If it drops to red:
  • You lose the right to initiate marketing conversations
  • You may receive a temporary number suspension
  • In extreme cases, a permanent ban
What affects the rating: negative responses from recipients, mass opt-outs, reports. Do not blast cold lists without warming up first. Marcus follows a conservative cadence by default — don’t override it arbitrarily.
As volume grows, consider adding multiple numbers to the same Messaging Service. Twilio automatically distributes load and isolates the impact if one number is penalized.Cost: each approved number carries a monthly Twilio hosting fee, regardless of volume.
Create templates in your Twilio account, not in ApolloSpace AI. Why:
  • Twilio submits them to Meta and manages the approval cycle
  • Templates are available to any tool using the same Messaging Service (not just ApolloSpace AI)
  • ApolloSpace AI reads your approved templates automatically
Good templates: utility or service (more permissive). Marketing templates require extra care around tone and opt-out handling.

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Disconnect

In Settings → Integrations → WhatsApp → Disconnect:
  • ApolloSpace AI removes the credentials from storage
  • ApolloSpace AI reverts the webhooks in Twilio (you’ll need to point them at another endpoint afterward — Twilio does not allow an empty webhook)
  • Active campaigns using WhatsApp pause until you reconnect
Your Twilio account and approved number remain intact — disconnecting from ApolloSpace AI does not touch your Twilio infrastructure.

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Next steps

Marcus in action

How the outbound agent operates the channel you just connected.

Outbound — feature

Campaign types, cadence, and metrics.

Costs

How WhatsApp usage factors into your org’s billing.